Finally Finished: Life Is What You Make It

Sunday was a great day! I got so much sewing done. At my family quilt bee on Saturday (more on that when I get the pictures from my sister - I forgot my camera!), I didn't do a ton of sewing on my own projects as I was busy helping others or letting others use my machine. So on Sunday I wanted to make up some of that time. I finally finished my Life Is What You Make It quilt. And just in time for Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival, and I'll have something to contribute to Amylouwho's sew & tell this week too!








This quilt measures about 67 by 84 inches. I opted to use a wavy stitch in parallel lines about an inch and a half apart for the quilting. I really like how it turned out. I'm learning though that the "quilting" part of quilting is not my favorite because of how time-consuming and awkward it can be. I love the look of it and feel that the scrunchy look is what makes a quilt a quilt, so I guess I just need to keep practicing and hope that I improve my technique over time.


And here's the back.


I did the binding a little bit differently this time. I made it 2 1/4 inches wide instead of 2 1/2. I definitely liked the smaller binding, but it was a beast when I got to the corners. Two of them I had to stitch by hand because the bulk wouldn't fit under the foot. I also found it helpful to make the binding ahead of time - not at the beginning of the process, but after the quilting was done. In the past I've pieced the binding, pressed it, and added it to the quilt all in one night. But this time I made the binding the day before and then wound it up. Then, the next day, all I had to do was pull out the roll and get to work binding the quilt. I think I'll do it this way from now on.


I really love how this quilt turned out. I was starting to get sick of looking at this fabric for so long and on a few separate projects. But, now that this quilt is finished and put to use (first time snuggle on the couch with the mister last night while we watched the LOST series finale), I love it as much as I did when I first saw it. Thanks Missouri Quilt Co. for the quilt idea.

The Process Pledge

Sometime last week while I was perusing the World Wide Web, I came upon R0ssie's blog and read about her Process Pledge. I decided this would be a great way for me to document my quilting processes.

Basically, the pledge deals with talking more about how you go about making your quilts (choosing fabrics, design inspiration, decisions made along the way, etc.) rather than just showing off a finished quilt and doing a little write-up about it. I especially wanted to do this so I can learn more about photography and get in lots of practice by taking pictures of each quilt-making step. The mister is an amazing photographer, so I make the excuse that I don't need to be. But, there's nothing attractive about a quilt when the picture of it was taken by a novice. The challenge for me lies in the time of day I do my sewing. With two kiddos underfoot, I don't quilt until they're in bed, which means less natural light. I'm still brainstorming how I can overcome this so I can capture more in-process shots, but I'll be sure to discuss all these challenges and the solutions I come up with along the way.

I've started two new quilts while finally finishing my Life Is What You Make It quilt. It's in the dryer as we speak. Over the next couple of days, I plan to talk about the finished quilt, our family quilting bee day, as well as some process posts about the two new quilts I'm starting.

And, here's just a cute picture for you. My little three-year old makes a great baby quilt model, don't you think?

Wrapped in Make Life baby quilt.

Quilting finally done

I spent the evening last night finishing the quilting on my Life Is What You Make It quilt. I know what you're thinking, She isn't done with that quilt yet? Sheesh, she must be a slow poke! And you'd be right. I started this quilt a couple months ago. My quilting time is limited and although I had a few evenings I could have spent sewing/quilting this week, I just wasn't feeling in the mood. It's funny how I can go days without sewing while other times I feel like there aren't enough days in the week. I have to say though that I'm starting to get sick of looking at Make Life. I'm ready to start using new colors and patterns. I bought some more fabric to make another Make Life baby quilt for my cousin, but since it's a gift for her baby and she isn't pregnant yet, I can put that off for a little bit and come back to it after I've had a break.

I'm trying to decide if I want to turn all those strips into the binding (so as not to waste any fabric - I hate wasting pretty much anything), or if I should just give in and buy some more fabric that won't take as much time. The mister thinks I should just get over it and throw those strips away, but I'm not sure I can do it.

In other news, another cousin asked me to teach her how to make a quilt, so we're having a family quilting day. She picked out the design she wants and I wrote up the instructions and drew up the diagrams of the blocks. Our big quilting day is in a week and a half. I'll post the instructions and diagrams here after that.

Don't forget to tune in this Monday (May 17) for a chance to win some great prizes.

Oh, and thanks for voting for my ugly quilt. I took second place!

Oakley's rag quilt and Make Life baby quilt update

A friend of mine had her second baby yesterday, a little girl named Oakley Jo (isn't that cute?). I had some flannel left over from my daughter's rag quilt so I brought it out last night, cut it up, and made a rag quilt for Oakley.


I didn't have enough full size pieces so the back is made up of some rectangles instead of just squares.


Once I finished the rag quilt, I finished practicing free motion quilting on my Make Life baby quilt.


Although it looks a little scary in some places, I'm pleased with the overall result.



Especially because it's starting to have that scrunchy look that I love.


Tonight I plan to piece the binding, which will be the green dots and white paisley. Then I will finish quilting my Life Is What You Make It quilt and get to work on piecing the binding out of these babies...Yeah, I know. I'm a glutton for punishment, but I can't bear to waste any of this fabric.


I'm sure I won't get to it tonight, but another friend sent me this fabric from Portland to make her a bag, but not a Buttercup bag. She serves as the Relief Society President in her area and needs a BIG bag to carry all her Church stuff around. I'm excited to try my hand at a different style. Cross your fingers that it'll work out.

Playing Catch-up

After my back went out last week, I didn't get the chance to do very much sewing. But, I certainly made up for it the other night. I've been nursing this terrible sinus headache/earache/toothache over the last few days and was so sick of it that I just needed to get something done to get my mind off how much my head was killing me.

So, I made block #4 in the Jelly Roll Quilt Along (ignore the lack of pressing).

Click the photo to see the full image on Flickr, along with the other participants' blocks.



And I made the Buttercup bag for Terre. I was pleased that it only took me two hours instead of four like the last time.


She ordered the floral print from Joann's and had it sent to me since she lives about five hours away. It's a really soft cotton. I interfaced the lining pieces with the curtain that I've used on all the other bags I've made to give it extra strength. Because the fabric was thinner quilting cotton, I was able to add the decorative piece where the buttons are sewn.


After finishing those two things, I got nearly 1/3 of the way through quilting my Life Is What You Make It quilt. I didn't want to do straight line quilting so I played around with some of the decorative stitches on my machine and decided on a wavy line that runs the width of the quilt. I think it's going to look great once it's bound, washed, and scrunched up. Photos to come when it's finished.

I also went to my first quilt guild meeting on Thursday. It was really fun to meet some of the girls whose blogs I frequent and admire their talent. Some day I'll be as good as them.

More on Life Is What You Make It Quilt

I spent the evening last night piecing the back of my Life Is What You Make It quilt. After that was finished, I cut the batting and basted the quilt. I shouldn't have cut my nails yesterday morning...it made closing those pins extra hard (not to mention ouchy). I haven't decided how I'm going to quilt it yet, but I hope to get some of it done before the quilt guild meeting on Thursday night so I have something to show off.

Instead of separating the two backing fabrics with the row of charms 2/3 of the way up, I opted to just split it half since the fabric width was pretty much perfect. (If I can find a way to make things easier, I will.) And even though the fabrics are different colors, I think the white paisley print is busy enough to balance out the green dots.





I also cut out another Buttercup bag for my good friend, Terre. Don't you love the fabric she picked out?


Joann's has been having some great fabric sales this month. I went the other day and picked up a few more half-yard cuts for a new quilt that I haven't planned out yet (surprise, surprise).


I also got the backing fabric for my Swirling Stars quilt. This pattern will look great with some free motion quilting (if I get the hang of it before I get around to finishing that quilt).

"Life Is What You Make It" Quilt Top Finished

I finished piecing the top of my Life Is What You Make It quilt on Friday night (based on the Missouri Quilt Co.'s version). It's exciting to see it coming together so nicely. The backing will be made up of Grass Simple


and Colorful Ivory, divided by a row of charm squares (two-thirds of the way up).


The finished top is about 66 by 83 inches. I initially wanted to do a border, but I think the size is good for now.


I also pieced four more blocks for my Swirling Star quilt.


Eight down, four to go.

Organizing my stash

I went to get goodies for our Easter baskets yesterday. Since my two kiddos are young and just starting to get a feel for holidays (well, at least the oldest is) we haven't done Easter baskets before. Instead of just doing junk, we opted to get them a couple sweets and a toy. While I was shopping, I decided to get gifts for my husband and myself as well. For me, some bins to start organizing my fabric stash.

Here is most of my fabric. Keep in mind that I'm a beginner and didn't really start buying fabric until December 09. I have some more fabric that wouldn't fit in this three-drawer organizer. It's still in my cedar chest.


The top drawer has most of the designer fabric I've bought. There's some Blush, Oz, Panache, the fat quarter pack I won, Figgy Pudding, Cutie Pie, Arcadia, Goodnight Monkey, and some others that I can't think of off the top of my head.


The second drawer has most of what I've bought at Joann's for different projects. Skirts and pillow covers, the spring quilt, scraps from my sister and mom, etc.


The bottom drawer has my flannel. There is flannel for two rag quilts to be made in there as well as the leftovers from the two rag quilts I made in the last few months for my kiddos.


I love having my fabric better organized. Although I need to buy at least one more unit, it's nice getting the fabric out of the plastic bags they came home in and into something a little more see-through and accessible.


Maybe organizing my stash this way will be a good way of getting the big TV off the floor. Maybe we'll have to get a new flat screen to hang on the wall and make floor space for the fabric bins. The mister would love that!

Stay tuned: This weekend I'm going to work on finishing piecing the top of my Life Is What You Make It quilt as well as piecing the eight remaining stars/pinwheels for my Swirling Stars quilt.

Life Is What You Make It

I've decided to change the name of the Make Life quilt to Life Is What You Make It. I've squared the blocks and sewn them into rows. I just need to piece the columns and then the top will be done. Because of the size, I'm not adding a border. Next up? Piecing the back, then basting, quilting, and binding.

The mister is the photographer in the family, but he wasn't home, leaving it up to me to document my progress.